Bexar County doesn't need more justices of the peace

Express-News Editorial Board

Updated 4:24 pm, Monday, October 21, 2013

Photo: Jerry Lara / San Antonio Express-News

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County Commissioners Sergio Rodriguez (left) and Paul Elizondo (right) and County Judge Nelson Wolff listen to a constituent. The officials are rushing toward the unnecessary creation of new justice of the peace courts. less

County Commissioners Sergio Rodriguez (left) and Paul Elizondo (right) and County Judge Nelson Wolff listen to a constituent. The officials are rushing toward the unnecessary creation of new justice of the ... more

Photo: Jerry Lara / San Antonio Express-News

Bexar County doesn't need more justices of the peace

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Bexar County commissioners should put plans to create two new justice of the peace posts on hold.

They have failed to make a case for the need of the new offices.

Commissioners are rushing the process to beat state filing deadlines so candidates who might want to run for the posts can get their names on the ballots for the upcoming primaries. But the commissioners' job is not to create political opportunities.

Taxpayers should not be saddled with the long- term cost of these new courts without a clear explanation of the necessity for the new positions. Commissioners also have failed to provide adequate answers about what happens to the elected officials affected by the redistricting they are proposing.

In the last two decades, Bexar County taxpayers have had to pay more than $1 million in litigation costs related to dissolving justice of the peace and constable posts. That expense will have been wasted if the new JP courts are added now.

It is far easier to create new elected seats than to abolish them. The public needs ample time to review the proposals and comment on them before new courts become a done deal.

The idea of expanding the number of justices of the peace was prompted by discussions on the disproportionate number of cases handled by each JP court. It is obvious from looking at the numbers that the workload is not evenly distributed, but that does not justify adding more courts.

Commissioners should explore other alternatives to resolve the caseload inequities without having to add to new elected positions.

Today, Bexar County has six justices of the peace serving four precincts. They include five justices of the peace who work full time and one who works part time. There is one elected constable in each of those precincts.

Commissioners want to increase the total to eight and give each Commissioners Court precinct one full-time and one part-time justice of the peace. The number of constables would remain the same, but to carry out their proposal, the justices of the peace and constable precinct boundaries would have to move to align with the commissioners' precincts.

The realignment presents many logistical problems that must be addressed before new elected officials are added to the county payroll.

As presented, the proposed district lines would adversely affect several JPs and constables now in office. State law stipulates constables and justices of the peace must reside in the district they represent, and if the lines are moved, at least three justices of the peace and constables could find themselves residing outside their districts.

The chaos is unnecessary and unjustified.

Justices of the peace can hear cases from across the county; the only cases that must stay within the jurisdiction are evictions. Commissioners' precinct lines are drawn to ensure the county's population is equally distributed among their four precincts.

The population in justice of the peace precincts does not determine the workload. Instead, the personality, work ethic and personal philosophy of the individual holding the office has a bigger bearing on which cases get filed.

It is not unusual, for example, to have local school districts go venue shopping when they file truancy cases.

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Perhaps a case-filing system that would allow the redistribution among the justices of the peace would be more equitable and economical.

Distributing the county's population evenly across four justice of the peace precincts and adding two more elected officials to the payroll is not the most efficient way to address the problem commissioners are trying to resolve.